Monday, October 24, 2005

La Salette Missionaries in Crisis? More disturbing revelations.

In a book entitled, "Going Home: The Long Haul - A Psycho-Spiritual Journey Dealing with Manic-Depression," Fr. Patrick McCarthy relates that from June of 1983 until March of 1984 he participated in the House of Affirmation Program of therapies. Fr. McCarthy also relates how the "House psychiatrist" prescribed him his first dosage of lithium (pp. 38-39).

But why would the La Salette Missionaries send one of their own to the House of Affirmation for therapy? After all, as Mary Jean of Leominster, Massachusetts has documented at her website Worcestervoice.com:

THE HOUSE OF AFFIRMATION

The House of Affirmation, located at 120 Hill St., Whitinsville, MA 01588, was established in 1973 as a rehabilitation center for pedophiles and other troubled clergy and ended in financial scandal in the late 1980s. Established under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, the House of Affirmation had branches around the country and in at least one foreign country. Some of the centers were located in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida, California, Missouri, and England. Affirmation Books was the publishing arm of the House of Affirmation.

An article appeared in the June 29, 1973, edition of The Catholic Free Press, the diocesan newspaper, that included a photograph of Rev. Thomas A. Kane dressed in what appeared to be academic robes. Rev. Kane told the newspaper that he had received his doctorate in psychology from the University of Birmingham, England, and would return to become director of the newly established House of Affirmation in the Whitinsville section of Northbridge, MA.

Who is Rev. Thomas A. Kane? Rev. Kane was the House of Affirmation. He co-founded the House of Affirmation and purportedly used it to line his pockets, formulate a child sex ring, and satisfy his molestation desires.

Kane accumulated ample real estate holdings before his departure from the House of Affirmation. The holdings included one house each in Upton and Whitinsville, an inn and a farm in Maine, three condominiums in Boston, two condominiums in Florida, an interest in trusts that owned other Boston properties, and an interest in a pet store on Boston's upscale Newbury Street.

Rev. Kane used Affirmation Books, the publishing arm of the House of Affirmation, to advertise and promote his beliefs regarding relationships with children. For example, the book, "Intimacy," published in 1978 by Whitinsville-basedAffirmation Books, includes essays by therapists offering seemingly contradictory views on celibacy and sexuality. "Celibate persons should celebrate, relish, and enjoy life," one passage reads. "They should see the divine in the sexual act, the act of human creation, and acknowledge their sexual selves, their maleness or femaleness," reads another. Other books include:

As stated in one news article, "a psychological text published by a now-defunct treatment center for troubled priests could have served as a primer for molestation of adolescents and adults by clergymen, according to psychotherapists who have studied sex abuse in the church."

Rev. Kane left the House of Affirmation in 1986 amid allegations of financial improprieties brought by eleven center managers and executives. In June 1988, 11 months after being removed from his responsibilities at the House of Affirmation, Rev. Kane was named executive director of the National Guild of Catholic Psychiatrists, following a recommendation from Bishop Timothy J. Harrington.

After settling a lawsuit where he was shown to have been with several boys, Rev. Kane filed for bankruptcy in the early 1990s. Before filing for bankruptcy, Rev. Kane transferred a piece of property he owned in Florida to Monsignor Brendan P. Riordan, who also was a director of the House of Affirmation and was a friend of Rev. Kane. Monsignor Riordan is also accused of child molestation by a survivor.

On Wednesday, June 3, 1992, the Office for Youth Ministry for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester was relocated to the former House of Affirmation at 120 Hill St., Whitinsville, MA. The Office for Youth Ministry for the Roman Catholic Diocese is sometimes called the Oakhurst Retreat and Conference Center. The location is: Youth Ministry Office, 120 Hill St. Whitinsville, MA 01588 508-234-0346.

The House of Affirmation has been the center of several lawsuits against priest molesters who lived there. You probably can obtain more information about the House of Affirmation from the public record court documents or by writing the attorneys involved in the law suits

Now, all of this is extremely disturbing. Especially since Fr. Joe Bachand, another La Salette Missionary, is on staff at the St. Luke Institute, an institution run by theological liberals which promotes homosexuality as a "gift" and encourages patients to act out genitally.

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About Me

Born in Bitburg, Germany,
Paul Melanson is a Catholic lay-philosopher and apologist whose work has appeared in many publications and websites including The Union Leader, The Wanderer, Seattle Catholic, Newsblaze, Helium, and Amazines. He has been interviewed by The National Catholic Register, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the television newsmagazine Chronicle.